Ralph T. Stevens was born in Montecito. He earned his bachelor’s degree in landscape architecture from Michigan State College.
After completing his degree, Stevens worked in the Chicago, Illinois office of O. C. Simonds. Stevens left Simonds and returned
to California where he worked for a nursery and practiced as a landscape architect before relocating to northern California
to teach landscape architecture at the University of California, Berkeley, a position he held from 1913 to 1917. Stevens established
his own private practice in Santa Barbara, and by 1920 he was teaching again, this time at the Santa Barbara School of the
Arts. Between 1919 and 1921, Stevens also worked as the Superintendent of the Parks Department and then as Parks Commissioner
and Consultant. Over the course of his career he collaborated with well known architects, such as, George Washington Smith,
Lutah Maria Riggs, Reginald D. Johnson, and Richard Neutra.

Scope and Content note

The Ralph T. Stevens landscape plan for the Harold S. Chase estate spans 3 linear feet and dates from 1925. The collection
is composed of a single landscape plan drawn in pencil by Stevens.